It takes place in a Constructed World divided into nations based around the elements of water, earth, fire, and air. Some people from each nation, called "benders", have the ability to control the element on which their nation is based.

However, one character, called the Avatar, is incarnated into each of the nations in an endless cycle, and he or she has the ability to bend all four elements. The main character of each work is this Avatar, and he or she must undergo the trials, tribulations, and responsibility of holding that power.

Works in the canon

Ready-to-Read Seriesnote Two of the books are based on TV episodes; the third (Love Potion #8) is a non-canon original story

Sozin's Comet: The Final Battle

Avatar: The Last Airbender - Legacy

The Legend of Korra: Revolution

The Legend of Korra: Endgame

Comic Books

A number of short comics first published in Nick Magazine and DVDs of Avatar: The Last Airbender and later collected in Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Lost Adventures. All but twonote "New Recruits" and "Gym Time" are considered canon by Word of God. invoked

Tropes common to the franchise:

Animesque: The art style of the franchise is based on anime, as admitted by the creators themselves, especially the work of Hayao Miyazaki. It also helps that the show is animated by many companies known for working on genuine animes.

Airbender: Zuko and Zhao for Book One, Azula in Book Two, and Fire Lord Ozai, who is Orcus on His Throne for the majority of the series, but takes a more active role in the third book. Long Feng is an Arc Villain from episodes fourteen to eighteen in Book Two, before this position is taken over by Azula again.

Korra: Amon for Book One, Vaatu and Unalaq for Book Two, Zaheer for Book Three and Kuvira for Book Four.

Bilingual Bonus: All the calligraphy, and writings within the franchise are executed with real, and fluent Chinese.

Flight: Flight - The ability of controlled flight without the use of a glider staff or wing suit, it is unlocked by complete detachment from earthly tethers. Extremely rare, as in only two known human practitioners in recorded history.

People Puppets: Bloodbending, the Dangerous Forbidden Technique of Waterbenders by bending the water in animals and humans. Normally can only be done by a master Waterbender under the full moon, but there have been exceptions.

Swiss-Army Superpower: Waterbending has the most versatility of all the bending styles since water comes in so many forms. This is balanced by the fact that Waterbenders are the only ones that have Elemental Baggage - they have to carry their water around.

Flight: Interestingly, powerful Firebenders can use Firebending for rocket-style unassisted flight, actually giving them an up on Airbenders in the mobility department.

Soul Power: Chi/Spirit/Energy-bending. The Avatar's unique power to remove and/or restore people's ability to bend. Others can tap into Spirit power as well; Waterbenders have been seen using it to purify dark spirits, and Jinora, an Airbender, uses it for Astral Projection.

Dragons Are Divine: Dragons were the original Firebenders. Because of that, they were respected and revered by the Sun Warriors and their later incarnation, the Fire Nation. However, Fire Lord Sozin created dragon hunting and they were driven to extinction. Thankfully, two were saved by Iroh and were being protected by the Sun Warriors. These two help Aang and Zuko learn the true way of Firebending.

Fantasy Gun Control: Played with in that explosives made from blasting jelly and "spark powder" are prevalent, but handheld firearms of any kind are never seen, even in the 1920's style setting of The Legend of Korra.

The great lion turtles of Avatar: The Last Airbender and its sequel The Legend of Korra. In ancient days they were the protectors of humanity, and granted them the power of bending. After the mortal Wan joined with the spirit of light Raava to become the first Avatar, the lion turtles withdrew from the world at large. At the end of the Hundred Years War, Aang met the last lion turtle, who gave him the final key to defeating Fire Lord Ozai.

Avatar Wan himself counts as this, as the very first Avatar who separated the human and Spirit Worlds and sealed the spirit of darkness Vaatu inside the Tree of Time for 10,000 years. By the time of The Legend of Korra, so much time has passed that very few apart from the Red Lotus and later on Korra herself even know of his existence.

Avatar Aang attains this status in The Legend of Korra, having been the one who originally founded the United Republic alongside Fire Lord Zuko and being Korra's direct predecessor. However, because of Korra's issues with the spiritual aspects of being the Avatar, his role as Spirit Advisor is limited to giving her dreams of his battle with Yakone 42 years prior, and restoring her bending at the end of Book 1. In Books 3 and 4 he's unable to help Korra because he and all her other past lives had their connection to her severed by Unalaq managing to kill Raava.

For smaller examples of this, there's Fire Lord Sozin, who committed the genocide of the Air Nomads, and Yakone, a crime boss whose legacy proves disastrous for Republic City. The Red Lotus, a terrorist organization out to enforce a new world order, make their debut in the third book of Korra.

God of Good: The Avatar is the human incarnation of the spirit of light and peace, Raava. She bonded herself with a human host in order to defeat her evil opposite Vaatu and later bring peace to both physical and spirit worlds.

In My Language, That Sounds Like...: In the real world, the whole franchise suffers from this in Britain. Unfortunately, in British English, the word "bender" is a childishly insulting slang term for a gay man. Compound words like "airbender" aren't too problematic, but lines referring to a person being a "bender" generically sound unintentionally "naughty" to a British audience. This led to the first show being promoted in the UK as Avatar: The Legend of Aang, which then inspired the worldwide title of the second show.

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